This Time It'll be Different
by HannHaru
Summary: Sasuke returns but leaves, seeking again for his brother. Nothing changed. Sakura can't stop him, all she can do is wait. Nothing changed. He returns but this time is different, she welcomes him with open arms but blind eyes. Sasuke is a little OOC here.
1. It happens again

Text-present

_Text-past (flashback)_

Note: This is my first fanfic. Sasuke's a little OOC here.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and if I did, there would've been little pink-haired Uchihas roaming around the streets of Konoha.

* * *

She looked straight at him, the guy who made her fall in love but also broke her heart, the guy who promised not to abandon her again but the same guy who's leaving her now. Memories that are still fresh in her mind began to play back.

_In the midst of the night, after finishing her shift, a certain pink-haired girl was on her way home. Her eyes looked so distant, searching signs of another person's presence. She stopped dead on her tracks and the sight of Konoha's gates was beheld upon her. Her feet had taken her here. Why was she waiting for someone she knows won't come back? It's been three years without a word from him, there's no reason for him to appear now. Deep inside she knows the reason why she's still waiting, she's still in love with him._

_She turned her back and began to walk the road again when she heard that voice. The voice that she's been pleading to hear for so long and now here it is. She rushed back and screamed," Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun!". Silence reigned. She screamed again but this time she went closer to the gates and shouted a little louder,"Sasuke-kun!". She saw a man materializing. It was her beloved Sasuke._

_His face was bruised and is beaten up. His clothes were torn and bathed in blood. He could barely walk an inch, it's even a miracle he was able to reach this far. Sakura stood their dumbfounded. Is the exhaustion from work brought tricks to her eyes? Sasuke grunted and Sakura snapped out of the daze she was in. She immediately went to his aid. She used her chakra to stop the blood from oozing but it wasn't enough. Her chakra's almost ran out, it would bring no good if both of them faint here and so she used the last of her chakra to carry Sasuke and rush to the hospital. _

"_Sasuke-kun, just a little longer. Hang in there!" Sakura was sweating a lot, his weight was much too heavy for her fragile frame._

"_S..Sakura.", he managed to say. "I'm…home." Sasuke couldn't hold on any much longer as Sakura wanted her too but what can he do? A little smile crept upon his face and Sakura somehow knew he did._

"_Yeah, welcome home, Sasuke-kun."_

This is what she dreaded the most. The thought never crossed her mind until now, the thought that Sasuke would leave her again.

"You told me you won't leave me again…but why?" tears threatened to fall from her jade eyes.

"Sakura…I-I just can't stay here knowing that _he_ is still alive. I thought I already killed him but it turns out the one I fought was just a sham." Sasuke said and thought that this goodbye is harder than the last time. He began to be attached to her.

"Then, maybe this time…I could go with you." Sasuke bit his lip, the offer was just too tempting for him but he knows he can't bear to see her hurt when he's with him. He has to leave his emotions behind.

"I'm sorry but…No" Her tears began to fall. Dripping one after another, she's just too hurt to even say something.

_He invited her to go to the Uchiha Compound. He and Sakura have been going out for more than a year now. His pride was a bit shaken off when he only realized his feelings for Sakura with the help of the dobe, his best friend, Naruto. Nevertheless, it was all worth it anyway and now he's going to pop the question._

"_H-Hey Sakura, I-I was wondering what do you think of this place? The compound…I mean?" Uchiha Sasuke, the great avenger, shying over a girl. It's quite for a surprise for someone emotionally constipated but people change._

"_C'mon now Sasuke-kun, you always bring me here but now that you asked, what could I say? This place is so lovely, I would want to live here if I ever had the chance," Sakura was all smiles, she's really happy to be here. Although at first, she was uncomfortable because Sasuke was always awkwardly quiet whenever they visit this place. She knew that he was thinking about the blood-stained memories of his family but its different now because he has her._

"_Then live here, it's going to be yours anyway."_

"_Why, Thank-"Sakura smiled even bigger (if that's possible), she knows that this is Sasuke's version of a sweet marriage proposal. "Are you asking me to marry you?"_

"_I guess you're not the smartest kunoichi for nothing." He bent down on his knees, brought a ailver ring carved with Sakura's name and the Uchiha crest behind it and in the lining you could see petals of a cherry blossom. "Will you Sakura Haruno, my cherry blossom, do the honor of being with me for the rest of my life?"_

_Sakura shed tears of joy, she was about to answer when two masked men, the ANBU, caught their attention. "Sasuke Uchiha, you are summoned by the Hokage. We weren't given any details about it but we received direct orders to not let anyone come with you except us, your escorts." Sakura looked anxious, this "thing" they're talking about must be really big for the Hokage to issue a direct order._

"_Sakura…I have to leave. We can do this later. I love you." He kissed her goodbye. "I love you too." She whispered. Sakura watched him until his figure disappeared into thin air. She sighed._

"You told me that you want to be with me forever! Then, why? Why must you leave without me?" She can barely speak as her tears began to overflow.

Sasuke felt a pang of guilt. He kissed her cheeks to wipe off her tears. "I know and I want you to wait here." Sasuke looked down. He's doing it again. He's leaving and she can't do anything about it.

reviews are well appreciated :)


	2. Lies behind the truth

"_You called for me, Hokage-sama?_

"_Hai, Uchiha. I believe it's quite the bad news." Tsunade said sternly._

"_What could be worse than losing Sakura?" The Hokage can't help but to smile at the Uchiha. He changed drastically since he got together with her student. Of course, she's happy for sakura too, she treated her not just as an apprentice but also as her own daughter._

_Her smile turned upside down. "He's alive."_

_Sasuk'es body began to tense, sweat moistened his palms. He completely understood but he couldn't accept the dreaded truth. "How? I threw him a fatal blow! He shouldn't have survived my attack."_

_Tsunade knew how Sasuke felt at the moment. He was desparate in achieving his goal, he tool any kind of measure, may it be killing his allies, abandoning his past or cutting of his bonds. Knowing that he has failed must've caused a great impact on him. " I want Uchiha Itachi dead as much as you do but what we want is different from reality. I received a report that your brother was spotted last week near Konoha's gates, the place Sakura found you, exactly two years before." Sasuke raised an eybrow." I didn't tell you before because I want to confirm his existence and sadly it's an affirmative."_

"_Does Naruto know about this?" Sasuke asked._

_The Hokage shook her head. "Nobody except the people in this room knows about it. I don't want any information to leak because surely, it'll spread like wild fire."_

'_Hokage-sama, I will-"_

"_I know. You want to go and kill your brother…again but this time make sure you don't let him escape."_

"_What do you mean?" Sasuke's brows furrowed._

"_With the help of the Research Team, we were able to infer this. A week before your arrival here, I sent Naruto in a mission to annihilate my former team mate, Orochimaru. Five days later, he found Orochimaru but he's already dead. We autopsied his body and found Uchiha Itachi's blood on it. Naruto returned here a day after you arrived."_

"_Hn. Elaborate how Naruto's mission and my failure in killing my brother connected."_

"_Naruto found Orochimaru's body in Tanzaku Quarters, the once peaceful village the Snake-sennin destroyed .When we questioned you about your battle with Itachi, you told me that your fight took place at the Abandoned Uchiha Stringhold. There were a lot of holes in your story. You mentioned that after the battle, you found yourself in the woods near Konoha but how is that possible? The Team discussed about it and inferred two things: There's a possibility that you were under his genjutsu since the beginning of your fight or you weren't able to kill him and he saved and brought you to the forest."Tsunade took a long breath and began to talk again. "Tanzaku Quarters is a three day trip to Konoha and Konoha's woods are wide so it'll probably take a day to get through it. Considering your weakened state, it took you two days to reach the gate."_

_Realization hit Sasuke. In the midst of his battle with Itachi, his brother must've did something and went after Orochimaru. They're right, all of the events are connected and led to one thing, Itachi's alive, and he not only killed Orochimaru but also saved him but the question is…why?_

"_I will go after him. I'll leave tonight."_

"_That was fast. Did you not think about how Sakura might react when she finds out about this?"_

_Sasuke bit his lip, he thought of Sakura but she didn't want her to go with him. It'll be too painful to lose her during the mission. He must leave his emotions behind. "Yes, I want you to take care of her for me."_

"_Sigh. I get it. This is an S-Rank mission. There is no time limit just keep in contact, if we lose contact of you by one month…we'll be considering you dead." It was hard for Tsunade to say the last part, she's worried about Sakura but as a Hokage she must be strict and keep in line with the rules. 'These are the times I hate being Hokage' she thought  
_

"_Thank you and please do not tell her anything. I love her too much."_

Sakura's already familiar with this situation, Sasuke will take long before going home. She can't be a burden to Sasuke, she must show her support because she knows that he loves her and he's doing it for their sake.

"Sasuke-kun. I won't be giving you an answer. I'll say it when you return so that way you have something to reach." She laughed between tears, she's being strong for her love. After all, she doesn't want a very painful parting.

"Yeah…wait a little longer, Sakura…-chan. I'll return for you. My heart is always with you. I'll always love you." He kissed her. "I love you too." Sasuke disappeared into the woods.

Sakura touched her lips."Is this the last?" she whispers.


	3. Last Uchiha Stand

The full moon's light glowed under the starless sky. Sasuke had searched different villages and even disguised himself for information but he still ended up here, in the forest that surrounded the Hidden Leaf. After a long time of rummaging around, he decides to light a fire and rest for a little while. His thoughts wander from a battle strategy to Konoha to Sakura. **His** Sakura. It's been half a year since he left his village and even though he could return anytime, he didn't and definitely won't. Knowing that Itachi still lives gives restlessness to his mind, he can't just stand around while his brother lurks somewhere in the shadow. He knows that Itachi won't hesitate to harm them and of course, he doesn't want anyone to hurt Sakura. Even though they're far apart, his heart is with her always and they're under the same dark sky.

Why? The question still bugs him. Why did Itachi saved him? After all that's happened between them he shows compassion or is it just pity? 'No!' he mustn't jump to any conclusions. Who knows, some other person may have done it or the like.

After long hours of thinking, Sasuke's eyelids become heavy. He lets sleep take the better of him. Wrong move though, the moment Sasuke closes his eyes and lets his defenses to lower, he's caught off guard.

'Kuso!' Sasuke's body turns numb, he can't move. He glances at his sides and sees Itachi's clones. They pinpointed his vital parts and Sasuke falls to the ground. Sleep is taking over again but he resists it because he's aware of the risk. The risk that he won't be able to wake up once his consciousness drifts off. He closes his eyes and concentrates his chakra into his deadened body parts. This was a technique that Sakura taught him and it's surely paying off. He breaks free from the enemies grasp, his attention focuses in fighting the clones that he didn't see the real one coming.

A kunai slashed through his eye and blood splatters. 'Kuso, kuso, kuso!'His eyes are becoming blurred, it's hard to see like this. He activates his sharingan and his vision turned crimson red. His eyes drift from the pool of blood on his feet to the opponent in front, his elder brother, Itachi Uchiha.

"We meet again, foolish little brother." Itachi's face is calm and collected and gives off an intensive aura but there's the look in his eyes that tells you he's not as great as he seems, he's suffering and the cause is unknown.

"I'll tell you once you defeat me." Itachi activates his sharingan and assaults Sasuke with inhuman speed. If it weren't for his bloodline limit, Sasuke might've been already beaten into a bloody pulp.

'Serpant-ram-monkey-boar-horse-tiger'. Both hands move in accord .The other knows what the other is thinking and in unison they shout, "Fire Style: Fireball jutsu!." The fire that comes out from the brothers' mouth appears like two huge balls of flame, trying to devour the other but only one stands. Itachi's flames engulf Sasuke's fire until it's no more. Sasuke jumps high up to the uppermost branches of the trees to avaoid the attack. He takes safety precaution just in case. In a matter of seconds, he sends a message to Konoha with the help of his falcon, Taka. A demon wind shuriken hits his back and poof! He turns into a wood. A shadow clone.

Itachi chokes Sasuke as the surroundings swirl around like a kaleidoscope. He's fingers went to Sasuke's eyes, grabbing it out-slowly as possible for him to feel the excruciating pain. Blood oozes out and splatters on Itachi's face but he just licks it clean. Sasuke cries in pain and the daylights are almost out of him. He's down on his knees and one thought came to his mind, Sakura. She's waiting for him and he has a reason to return. He couldn't have her remaining there alone forever. His resolvemakes up and he gathers his feet and stands up. It takes almost all his strength to release from his brother's genjutsu.

After doing so, Itachi's eyes bleed. Amaterasu, unwavering flames that cannot be extinguished. Once it burns you, you'll succumb to death. The jet-black flames of Amaterasu, the fires from hell, ignite at the focus of the Itachi's vision. The flames engulfed the forest and only one Uchiha stands. Suprsingly, the flames are surrounding Sasuke **and** Itachi. The elder brother smiles says,"You want to know why I didn't die little brother?"Sasuke's taken aback by Utachi's sudden gesture but he say yes anyway. "Hn."

"I didn't die because I had a reason to live"

next chapter's coming up.


	4. Reason to live

_The brothers are exhausted but none showed signs of giving up.. Itachi looked up at the sky and drifted his eyes back to the ground. 'A white snake, Orochimaru!' Itachi thought. Orochimaru was on the verge of being rejected by his current body, Sasuke . The said ninja cut up Orochimaru's large snake body, the vaporizing blood is turning into a poison and Orochimaru successfully starts the body-switch process Sasuke pierced Orochimaru to kill him but to no avail_,_ Orochimaru then revealed his true form_, _a large white snake made of a multitude of smaller snakes. As desparate as Itachi was to kill Orochimaru, he made a genjutsu without Sasuke noticing._

_Itachi took his chance of killing Orochimaru when the Snake-sannin was blabbering about the fact that he could take over Sasuke's body."I won't allow you do such thing. You'll have to die first before taking over him." Fury flared at Itachi's eyes. He can't let his little brother suffer from this eternal curse of being binded to Orochimaru for all eternity. Itachi moved with all his might and unearthly speed, he drew closer to the snake and pierced it with a sword. Orochimaru thought that it had no affect on him so he laughed but was stopped when Itachi smiled. "Perish, Orochimaru-san." It was the Totsuka Sword, the sword that once killed the legendary creature, "Yamato-no-Orochi."Itachi used Susanoo to seal Orochimaru away. "With this, you won't be able to even go near my brother." _

_Itachi used the last of his energy to drag Orochimaru to Tanzaku Quarters and there Orochimaru was found by the loud blonde, Naruto. After doing so, Itachi went into hiding. _

_After Itachi left…_

_Thunder clouds gather in the gray sky, Sasuke draws his lightning directly from thunder clouds to supplement power and controls it with chakra. Kirin. Sasuke's fatal blow. It strikes at Itachi ( clone-it looked so real because of the genjutsu) and brings him to his death. Itachi was still able to stand up and go near Sasuke. As he approached, Sasuke, whose chakra was already drained and left him defenseless, a smile forms on Itachi's face and his finger gestures to his brother's face. Sasuke was afraid that he would take his eyes out but Itachi didn't, instead he poked his brother on his forehead just like how he did when they were younger. He smiled and drew his last breath._

_Sasuke looks like he was crying because of the blood pouring out of his eyes."I did it." Whispered Sasuke, he then fainted with a small smile plastered on his face._

"Why should I believe you?"Asks Sasuke

"I don't care if you believe me or not. Just listening to what I said is good enough."

"Itachi, why? Why did you save me? You could've just let me be overthrown by Orochimaru. Isn't that what you wanted, for me to suffer?"

"I'm sorry Sasuke. That's what you have thought all this time. I didn't want you to suffer, I wanted you to become stronger and so someday you could exceed father's expectation. I…I do not have the right to be called your brother.I-I l-love you foolish b-brother…that's –gasp- why I…wanted you to survive. Every..thing that I d-did was –gasp- all for your sake. You're the reason why…w-why I-I want to…live." Itachi's last breath is gone. Sasuke shakes him. "Itachi…Itachi..B-brother…brother!" He's gone, his brother is gone and a lot of questions are left unanswered, all he knows is that Itachi loves him. The same love he had shown him when they were young.

_Sasuke sat in a kotatsu together with Itachi. It was rainy that day and Sasuke was the same as the sky, crying his heart out._

"_Big brother! Why?-sob- Why does father hate me so much. –sob- I don't understand, I didn't do anything wrong and he always hits me." A five-year-old Sasuke cries out._

_Itachi hugs him tightly and says,__ "Don't cry, Sasuke. Your big brother is here to protect you, no matter what happens._" Sasuke looks at his brother and his eyes glimmered.

"_No wonder father always favors you. I love you onii-chan but I still can't accept that you're better than me" Sasuke says while pouting._

_Itachi smiles at his younger brother and says, "__You and I are flesh and blood. I'm always going to be there for you, even if it's only as an obstacle for you to overcome. Even if you do hate me. That's what big brothers are for."_

The jet-black flames of Amaterasu engulf the two brothers in fire.


End file.
